So, I'm reading the books currently - is the show writing the Melissandre character as a less powerful/magical woman than she is in the books?

In the books, Mel can shoot flames out of her finger tips for example. In S4, the only Mel scene I can remember well enough was where she was telling Selyse that her potions are lies/phoney. Is it just me or has anyone else caught on this thought themselves?

It's never considered in the books that Mel can shoot fire from her fingertips, she used some sort of power to make Orell's eagle burst into flames North of the wall when Stannis invaded, but it was never explained how she done it. In the show we don't see that happen but other than that I think we have seen the majority of Mel's magic capabilities portrayed in the show, shadow babies, visions in the fire, not being poisoned by the wine etc.

So as the show writing her to be less powerful/magical than she is in the books, I don't believe so. They have definitely proved in the show what she is capable of and that her power is legit. If they were to give her too much magical powers I think they could run the risk as making viewers portray her as a sort of witch rather than a priestess who has been gifted with powers by the Lord of Light.

As for Season 4 the reason why she didn't appear in many episodes is because she doesn't appear much in the book which S4 is based on, ASOS pt.2.

The scene with Selyse had a bigger purpose though than to just state that Mel's potions are lies and tricks to draw unbelievers in until they see the real truth that The Lord of Light exists. It was to introduce the fact that Mel somehow needs Shireen once they get to the Wall and in turn she will need Selyse's help. It was sort of to set up a future plot as Mel's storyline will get considerably more important in Season 5.

She seems toned down the me too, but they've toned down a lot of things for the show. Mormont's raven, the way people dress in the free cities, Jon and Arya warging. It makes some sense, the show is more mass market than the books, and magic stuff can very easily come across as cheesy.

There needs to be a scene next season that demonstrates that she's become more powerful at the Wall. And yes, the scene needs to be a visual depiction of that power, and not just her verbally acknowledging it. Screw Orell's eagle, lets see her set a renegade wilding aflame with the flick of her wrist. Fall in line freefolk, its time to kneel to your betters. That would be an excellent S5 E1 rebuttal to Mance's 'we do not kneel' line.

I figured the "potion" scene was something of a homage to what Quaithe says to Jorah Mormont in Qarth, about the street entertainers doing magic tricks with fire ladders etc wheras just a few months before it was all small time stuff, of course dragons and hence magic started to come back more powerfully they could do more genuine stuff so presumably Melsiandre, Thoros and perhaps even Bran/BR/Old Gods will be able to do more stuff

One thing I've always wondered is if the Religion of the Seven can/will have any magical attributes, or whether their rise in power will purely be a matter of the High Sparrow and their military arm being reconsitituted

The lack of talking ravens is genuinely one of my biggest disappointments with the show.

As for Mel, some of her powers actually seem a little stronger on the show. I don't recall an instance in the book where she encountered a stranger (Arya in S3), looked in their eyes, and immediately had a solid read on their future. I know that's just them replacing the Ghost of High Heart, but it has implications for the visions she will get at the Wall.

I would eventually like at least an aside mention of Orell's eagle, though. If she can set stuff on fire from afar, even only at the Wall, that seems like it could come up again.

There needs to be a scene next season that demonstrates that she's become more powerful at the Wall. And yes, the scene needs to be a visual depiction of that power, and not just her verbally acknowledging it. Screw Orell's eagle, lets see her set a renegade wilding aflame with the flick of her wrist. Fall in line freefolk, its time to kneel to your betters. That would be an excellent S5 E1 rebuttal to Mance's 'we do not kneel' line.

Agreed. I'm halfway through ADWD at the moment, & the character does have a lot more to do at The Wall. I find the Wall storyline so much more interesting now that Stannis & Mel are there. The Jon Chapter where Mel gives the Wildlings a choice/Lightbringer makes an epic appearance (that's where yellow flames are coming out of her finger tips) would be the perfect scene to sort of really show that her character is quite powerful.

Carice made some vague comments in an interview a while back about how Mel is going to see more things in the flames that confuse her and Stannis. This was before she would have even had scripts and I imagine it was the general information she'd gleaned from the showrunners about her storyline.

Last year she was only filming a couple of days at a time - and then of course it did transpire that she had very little screentime *grinds teeth* - so her Twitter will actually be a good indication of how much time she'll be involved next season.

Mel's POV is so fascinating to me. We've already had a couple of things from that POV addressed on the show (her traumatic background, her "powders and potions"), but there is still lots of mystery surrounding her in the books and I'd be really happy to get a few more answers that haven't been revealed in the books.

Getting some display of how powerful she is at the Wall would also be very good. Not that I'm still bitter over not getting to be at the battle (lies, I am forever bitter).

Also Carice is pretty spoilery when she gives interviews, so hopefully if she gives some anytime soon, we'll get some indication of what we'll get this year. I hope she does promotion for a movie soon because that's when she gets thrown GoT questions and actually answers them unlike other tight-lipped cast members I could mention...

Getting some display of how powerful she is at the Wall would also be very good. Not that I'm still bitter over not getting to be at the battle (lies, I am forever bitter).

Yes! I want the Wall chapter where she and Stannis deal with the Wildlings to be done perfectly on the show. I know.. I was so hoping to see her in the battle, doing her stuff. It would've been so insane!

Carice made some vague comments in an interview a while back about how Mel is going to see more things in the flames that confuse her and Stannis. This was before she would have even had scripts and I imagine it was the general information she'd gleaned from the showrunners about her storyline.

Last year she was only filming a couple of days at a time - and then of course it did transpire that she had very little screentime *grinds teeth* - so her Twitter will actually be a good indication of how much time she'll be involved next season.

Mel's POV is so fascinating to me. We've already had a couple of things from that POV addressed on the show (her traumatic background, her "powders and potions"), but there is still lots of mystery surrounding her in the books and I'd be really happy to get a few more answers that haven't been revealed in the books.

Getting some display of how powerful she is at the Wall would also be very good. Not that I'm still bitter over not getting to be at the battle (lies, I am forever bitter).

Wonder if we'll get some version of her seeing Jon Snow in the flames and being confused because she is looking for AAR or drop some sort of hint that she may have screwed up?